City Commission Workshop Meeting

APPROVED:3/17/2016 City Hall City of Eustis, Florida 10 North Grove Street Post Office Drawer 68 Eustis, FL 32727-0068 Meeting Minutes - Final* City Commission Workshop Thursday, March 3, 2016 5:30PM City Hall CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Holland - 5:30 p.m. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF QUORUM AND PROPER NOTICE Mayor Holland acknowledged the absence of Commissioner Gnann-Thompson. Present: 4- Karen LeHeup-Smith; Linda Bob; Bill Brett; and Michael Holland Absent: 1 - Carla Gnann-Thompson I. Workshop Item #1 16049 Consideration of City Commission Residency Requirements Derek Schroth, City Attorney, cited documents he had provided including an Attorney General's opinion regarding Commission residency requirements. He stated that the opinion indicates that a city has discretion in whether to require an elected official to be a resident to continue to hold office. He explained the charter does not expressly require that a Commissioner remain a resident once taking the oath of office. He discussed issues with the charter and Section 30-5 of the Code regarding failure to maintain residence. He stated staff needs direction from the Commission regarding whether or not they want to amend Section 30-5, and if they want to require that a residence within the city limits be a condition for holding office and if a commissioner moves outside the city limits and resides somewhere else they vacate their office. He cited other possible alternatives such as omitting the requirement and allowing someone who owns a business or otherwise pays taxes within the city without actually residing within the city. He noted the time sensitivity due to Commissioner Brett's impending move to a new residence. II. Commission Discussion Vice Mayor LeHeup-Smith expressed support for the wording in the Leesburg charter that makes it clear you have to maintain your residence within the city to keep your seat. She stated her support for requiring residency. Commissioner Bob indicated she had visited Commissioner Brett's home site and spoken with the builder. She stated she did not see an issue if he plans to annex into the City. She stated that to remain in his seat he should have to annex within a reasonable amount of time. Commissioner Brett indicated that Section 30-5 needs to be addressed regardless of his intention. He stated he would not annex into the City due to wanting to do things on the property that cannot be done in the City. He noted he owns a business within the City and his children attend Eustis schools. He stated his desire to remain on the Commission and fulfill his term but would do whatever is best for the City. He stated his interpretation that the charter did not require him to stay in the City and cited the possibility of a vote being contested if he remains on the Commission. Mayor Holland stated he has researched the issue since the last meeting including contacting the Florida League of Cities. He indicated his belief that a Commissioner must reside within the City and be subject to whatever they vote on. Commissioner Brett cited the number of enclaves within the City that are actually in the County. He indicated the possibility that someone could inadvertently move outside the City and not know it. City of Eustis, Florida Page 1 Printed on 311012016 City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final March 3, 2016 III. Public Input Theodis Bob expressed support for allowing Commissioner Brett to stay on the Commission but make whoever is next elected to adhere to the residency. Timothy Totten stated his support for requiring Commissioners to remain in the City limits and subject to City regulations. IV. Commission Direction The Commission discussed the possibility of allowing a certain amount of time for a Commissioner to annex into the City. Mr. Schroth confirmed Commissioner Brett's intent to resign and suggested it be made effective May 9th or later to avoid the necessity for a special election. The Commission further discussed allowing a Commissioner to have time to annex with Development Services Director Lori Barnes indicating that an annexation could be turned around within 90 days. She suggested that the requirement be that the application must be submitted within a certain amount of time and then completed within a certain amount of time. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commissioner to have staff bring back an ordinance amending Section 30-5 to require a Commissioner that moves out of the City to file for annexation within 30 days and complete the annexation within 90 days. Mr. Schroth commended Commissioner Brett for bringing the issue to his and staffs attention rather than waiting. V. Workshop Item #2 16040 City Charter Review - Filling of Commission Vacancies Ron Neibert, City Manager, explained the previous Commission discussion regarding the filling of vacancies and directed staff to research the issue. He stated staffs recommendation that the charter be amended to allow the Commission to appoint an individual to fill the seat until the next regular Commission election. VI. Commission Discussion The Commission confirmed staffs recommendation to adopt the format currently utilized by the City of Leesburg. VII. Public Input Tim Totten questioned if there are other elections that involve all of the voters in the City that could be utilized rather than waiting two years for the next regular election with Mayor Holland indicating those opportunities normally only occur during presidential election years. VIII. Commission Direction The Commission discussed alternatives and the possible additional costs if other procedures were utilized. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission for staff to proceed with the charter revision for the filling of vacancies to allow the Commission to appoint a replacement until the next regular City election. Mr. Neibert explained for the audience that all of the recommended changes to the charter will be placed on the November ballot for voter consideration. City of Eustis, Florida Page2 Printed on 311012016 City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final March 3, 2016 IX. Adjournment - 6:04 p.m. MICHAE L. HOLLAND City Clerk Mayor/Commissioner *These minutes reflect the actions taken and portions of the discussion during the meeting. To review the entire discussion concerning any agenda item, go to www.eustis.org and click on the video for the meeting in question. A DVD of the entire meeting or CD of the entire audio recording or verbatim transcript of the meeting can be obtained from the office of the City Clerk for a fee. City of Eustis, Florida Page3 Printed on 311012016